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Topic: Letters Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 10/9/2007 9:20:01 AM
Title: Den mother or robber baron?
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
From GARY DRETZKA: Apart from any discussion about HuffPo's business model, as described in Simon Dumenco's telling piece, isn't it interesting that Ms. Huffington would morph not into a "surprisingly dedicated liberal den mother," but a robber baron?

According to our good friends at the Wikipedia Britannica, the term "dates back to the 12th and 13th centuries, originally referring to certain feudal lords of land through which the Rhine River flowed. They abused their positions by stopping passing merchant ships and demanding tolls without being authorized by the Holy Roman Emperor to do so."

Substitute the Internet for the Rhine River, and "demanding tolls" for "not paying for content," and ... well, you get the picture.

A more American description of "robber baron" is also offered: (It) was a term revived in the 19th Century in the United States as a pejorative reference to businessmen and bankers who dominated their respective industries and amassed huge personal fortunes, typically as a direct result of pursuing various allegedly anti-competitive or unfair business practices (italics mine)." Not throwing the occasional bone to your workers, I submit, falls under the category of "unfair business practices."

Historically, liberals have enjoyed badgering Republicans for increases in the minimum wage and adding teeth to such federal regulatory bodies as OSHA and NLRB. Also historically, liberals have rarely failed to buckle when conservatives played hardball, and special interests have threatened to turn off the spigot. Maintaining a minimum wage is fine -- for students and semi-retired seniors -- but it shouldn't be confused with or substituted for a living wage, COLA benefits and, in some locales, housing stipends.

At a time when Congress is dominated by lawyers and millionaires, all talk of a minimum wage smacks of noblesse oblige ... and, yet, it's one of the very few lifelines available to the poor. After HuffPo CEO Betsy Morgan was hired away from CBS -- or is she volunteering her time to raise her profile -- co-founder Ken Lerer boldly asserted, "That's not our financial model. We offer them visibility, promotion and distribution with a great company."

If Lerer were alive 200 years ago, he might have comforted African immigrants by arguing, "Hey, how many Europeans can say they got a free trip to America? None. And, you can't complain about the weather. There are thousands of poor crackers who would kill to have a job."

This isn't to say that pundits and bloggers who agree to write for the site gratis are slaves ... just that they are paid slave wages ... minus the free gruel. Meanwhile, Arianna gets to hang out and be photographed with her celebrity friends at swell parties and mansions. (She should share the goodie bags and table scraps with her unpaid writers.)

Poor and working-class folks who think a President Hillary Clinton might be their great liberal hope would do well to rent the DVD, "Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders." As demonstrated by documentarian James Scurlock, the senator from New York helped pass legislation making it more difficult for consumers to declare bankruptcy and free themselves from the shackles of 30-40 percent interest rates charged by her constituents and benefactors, the banking industry.

Newspaper publishers will never be confused with liberals, but they want readers to shed real tears with them whenever Wall Street demands more budget cuts and layoffs. Regular Romenesko readers have tallied the losses and debated the medium's future.

Little has been written, however, about how the layoffs at the Los Angeles Times -- among other places -- have opened the doors to the hiring of journalists willing to accept less in the way of salary and benefits, simply for the privilege of playing in the big leagues. The LAT website operation is hiring freelancers and contract players like crazy -- check out the Trib's CareerBuilder -- but only if they'll turn their backs on more than 70 years' worth of negotiated contracts and enforced security. What, prey, will these poor saps do when they turn 40 -- adjusted for age deflation -- and are laid off to cut expenses ... form a union?

As far as I know, there is no meaningful union representation on the Internet, for bloggers, freelancers or employees of MSM concerns that otherwise pay decent wages. In any case, thanks to HuffPo and other such operations, there aren't enough paid employees to constitute a workforce. With so many journalists willing to work for free (and, at times, I must include myself in this number), how difficult will it be to replace agitators, organizers and annoying beggars?

Ayn Rand would be proud. [Permalink]

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